Intellectual property law protects inventions, designs, certain business information, and artistic work. Its purpose is to provide an incentive for people to develop creative works that benefit society by ensuring they can profit from their works without fear of misuse or exploitation by others.
In our increasingly service-based economy and constantly evolving marketplace, a company’s success depends not only on the value of its ideas, creations, and intellectual property, but on the steps that it takes to protect the value of that proprietary information. This is especially true in Charlottesville and the surrounding Central Virginia area, where our businesses and entrepreneurs have technology-rich, cutting-edge business ideas.
Entrepreneurs and innovators must strike a perfect balance between increasing public recognition and distribution while safeguarding these valuable proprietary rights and assets from unfair competition or infringement.
Infringement refers to the unauthorized use of intellectual property. The best way to protect against infringement is for the owners of intellectual property to put others on notice that their rights exist. This may take the form of marking a product with the patent number or “patent pending” to discourage others from copying or imitating the design. Other ways to protect intellectual property include using the appropriate symbol (™, ©, etc.) to notify others that a trademark or copyright has been awarded or is being sought. Providing notice helps deter and prevent infringement by making the owner’s rights more visible to those who might inadvertently violate them. Further, notice is often legally required in order to prosecute an infringement in court.
The intellectual property attorneys at MartinWren, P.C. understand the value and importance that intellectual property plays in a company’s success. We strive to provide innovators and entrepreneurs with solid foundational documents and protective systems that will encourage business growth in a competitive and technologically-driven economy.
MartinWren’s intellectual property attorneys offer comprehensive intellectual property services for our business and entrepreneur clients including:
- Trademark, Copyright, and Trade Dress registration and prosecution
- Counseling for exploitation and strategic use of Intellectual Property
- Negotiating and drafting licensing agreements for copyrights, trademarks, trade dress, servicemarks, patents, trade secrets, brands, and domain names
- Negotiating and drafting employment contracts for executives, employees, inventors, and independent contractors
- Protection of trade secrets by confidentiality agreements, non-disclosure agreements, and covenants not to compete
- E-commerce counseling, including issues of Internet advertising and marketing
- Intellectual Property portfolio audit and counseling
- Sports and Entertainment Law issues
- Tax Issues
- Handling legal issues for creative and design professionals, entrepreneurs and artistpreneurs.
- Comprehensive litigation services for infringement and unfair competition
We recognize the time and effort that has been put into creating intellectual property, and your ideas and innovations deserve the best protection. If you are seeking trusted legal counsel to advise you on protecting your intellectual property, please call Robert E. Byrne, Jr. or Gregory M. Johnson, the Charlottesville Intellectual Property attorneys at MartinWren, P.C., at (434) 817-3100. Our intellectual property attorneys welcome the opportunity to meet you, listen to your concerns, and walk you through the process of securing and protecting your intellectual property.